Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that there is an adequate supply of oxcarbazepine for patients with epilepsy.

The Department was informed of supply issues with oxcarbazepine 150 milligram and 300 milligram tablets by one supplier, which are out of stock until the end of March and the end of February 2024, respectively. Alternative oxcarbazepine tablets remain available. The Department has worked extensively with alternative suppliers and clinical colleagues and has since issued communications to the National Health Service which includes detailed management advice.

While we cannot always prevent supply issues from occurring, the Department has a range of well-established processes and tools to manage them when they arise and help mitigate risks to patients. There is a team within the Department that deals specifically with medicine supply problems, and it works closely with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the pharmaceutical industry, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and others operating in the supply chain to help prevent shortages and to ensure that the risks to patients are minimised when shortages do arise.